AS an artiste, Keeling Beckford has recorded rocksteady and reggae songs, while his credits as a producer include singles by Dennis Brown and hip hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash. For the past 22 years he has been the voice of Keeling’s Super Mix on 93.5 FM in New York City.
Since October, Beckford has shared hosting duties with Wayne Armond, best known as guitarist and singer with Chalice. The hour-long program, which airs Wednesdays starting at midnight, is set to begin broadcasting on stations in Miami, Atlanta and Texas.
Beckford said details of the expansion will be disclosed soon. He told the Jamaica Observer it is an opportunity for listeners to hear about the true state of the reggae industry.
“On my show we play strictly reggae, rocksteady, roots-reggae. I stick to traditional reggae because it’s the market that really sells right now,” he explained. “Dancehall is popular but it don’t really sell.”
Beckford has lived in New York City for over 40 years, and has operated Keeling Records in Brooklyn since the early 1980s. The store, which is now an online venture, appeals to vinyl aficionados.
With a few exceptions, the Jamaican record shops that dotted the boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens during the 1970s and 1980s have disappeared. They have been replaced by vinyl record shops owned by mainly white businesspeople in areas like Williamsburg, a traditionally Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn.
“There are about 30 to 40 of these stores in New York and when you go into them, they are packed!” Beckford exclaimed
Beckford usually bases his radio playlist on compilation albums released by Trojan Records. Those collections feature songs from the rocksteady and classic reggae eras of the 1960s and 1970s. Several European independent companies have followed that strategy with great success.
It is no surprise Beckford has a special affinity for rocksteady. He started his career as a teenager at the height of that sound’s popularity, with his breakthrough song being Combination that was produced by Enid “Dell” Barnett in 1968.
At the time he moved to New York, a new beat ultimately dubbed hip hop was making the rounds in New York City’s boroughs. Beckford recorded some of the genre’s early acts, including Grandmaster Flash and TJ Swan.
Beckford is unapologetic about the self-promotional aspect of Keeling’s Super Mix.
“I believe in me, so I promote myself. I believe in reggae music, so I promote it,” he said.
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